Susan Leath is the Chief Operating Officer for The GroundTruth Project. She brings more than 30 years of experience in media management and organizational innovation for both for-profit and nonprofit enterprises.
Previously, Leath led the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism, where she was in charge of the strategic, financial and operational success of the Center, which supports existing and start-up news organizations through its dissemination of applied research and the development of digital tools and solutions. Her portfolio includes working with key Hussman-based initiatives including the ground breaking US News Desert research, UNC Knight Foundation’s Newsroom Table Stakes Program, Google News Initiative's (GNI) Project Oasis, the Reese Innovation Lab and the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting.
Leath is the former regional President of the USA Today Networks media groups in Delaware and Maryland, where she directed the strategic, financial, and operational success of the Network and its associated products, repositioning the brand as multi-media platform in the minds of consumers and business leaders. Leath led the Delaware and Maryland teams to improved marketplace positioning and established sustainable value propositions managing/optimizing core and new growth revenue streams.
After leaving Gannett, she started a management consulting firm, Leath Consultant Group, LLC to help organizations operate more effectively, identify and develop new revenue streams, establish and activate a strong communication strategy, and build relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
She serves on the board of directors of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, which for 40 years has sought to push back against the systemic lack of diversity in the media industry. Leath also is on the Ida B. Wells Society’s board of advisors, she serves on the board of directors of Carolina Public Press and UNC-TV’s Black Issues Forum advisory council and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Leath is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a Bachelors in Advertising with a concentration in marketing.
